Tesco posts record £6.4bn annual loss

Tesco has reported the worst results in its history with a record statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February.

That compares with annual pre-tax profit of £2.26bn a year earlier.

It is the biggest loss suffered by a UK retailer and one of the largest in the country’s corporate history.

Around £4.7bn of the losses were the result of the fall in property value of its UK stores, 43 of which it said would close earlier this month.

The decline in the value of its property portfolio comes as a direct result of falling footfall in many of its out of town superstores.

Tesco’s chief executive Dave Lewis admitted it had been “a very difficult year for Tesco”.

‘Important first step’

He added: “The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years.”

He said that he expected conditions in the coming financial year to remain challenging.

But Mr Lewis said more people were buying more things at Tesco and that this was “an important first step”.

BBC